New Kids On The Block Cancel Australian Tour

For those who care: Revamped ’80s boy band New Kids On The Block have cancelled their scheduled tour of the Australian outback this summer, blaming poor ticket sales for the shows on the global economic recession.

The band — which sold more than 70 million albums with their hits including “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” and “Please Don’t Go Girl” — broke up in 1994 but back together last year and released their first album in 14 years, The Block.

“We are, in fact, in the middle of a worldwide recession and we just cannot make it work,” band member Donnie Wahlberg said in a blog posting on the band’s website this week. Donnie added that the guys had “exhausted efforts” to get the August tour off the ground but it was proving to be “too complex.”

“We can only assure you that when the recession’s stranglehold on the world’s economies eases up a bit – we will find a way to make this work,” he said.

Donnie said the group was “saddened” to pull the plug on the Australian trip because the Outback had “always, always, been one of our favorite places to travel to.”